MUMBAI: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday called NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray to seek support for the NDA's vice-presidential candidate CP Radhakrishnan.
The INDIA bloc has fielded former Supreme Court judge B Sudarshan Reddy as its candidate.
The elections to the second highest office is scheduled to take place on September 9.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that apart from CM Devendra Fadnavis, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also called Uddhav Thackeray, urging him to extend support to the NDA candidate.
“BJP leaders might have called other opposition leaders as well," Raut said.
Raut took to social media later to state that he attended the Opposition meeting and expressed solidarity and support for the INDIA bloc candidate.
Earlier, Raut had lauded the candidature of NDA candidate saying he is an experienced leader. He also said if the Governor of Maharashtra becomes the vice president, then certainly he will be happy.
The NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) are part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra along with the Congress. The three parties are constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc at the national level.
The electoral college for the vice-presidential elections comprises members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Nominated members of the Upper House of Parliament are also eligible to cast their votes.
The effective strength of the electoral college is 781 and the majority mark is 391.